Category: Past Speakers

Introduction for Charles Hyland, MAWSS Director
Charles Hyland took over as Director of the Mobile Area Water and Sewer System, better known as MAWSS, in March 2013. He was no stranger to the organization having worked at MAWSS since 1988 in a variety of management positions overseeing Warehouse Operations, Customer Service, Meter Reading and Fleet and Facilities Management. Prior to working at MAWSS, he was an Administrator for the Mobile County Health Department.
A long time resident of Mobile, he attended McGill Institute and earned both his undergraduate degree and a Masters in Public Administration from the University of South Alabama. He has served in leadership roles at St. Mary’s School as well as other diverse community organizations including the Lebanese American Club. He is a graduate of the American Water Works Association Utility Management Institute and the Leadership Mobile Class of 1997. He is currently on the Board of Directors for the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce and Chairs the Board of United Way of Southwest Alabama.
He has been married to his wife Patricia for 38 years. They have two sons and two grandchildren.

Aaron Beam
Bio
Aaron Beam was a founder and the first Chief Financial Officer of Healthsouth from 1984 until 1997. Today he lives in Loxley, Alabama with his wife of 45 years, Phyllis. In 1996 he took part in the accounting fraud at Healthsouth. In 2003 he pled guilty to the fraud and spent time in a federal prison for his crime.
He began his public speaking career in 2009 and as of January 2017 has spoken to over 325 different groups. These include universities, associations, companies and civic groups. His primary message is about corporate fraud: Who is actually responsible for these frauds, how they take place, and what can be done to prevent frauds such as Enron and Healthsouth.
Mr. Beam is also an author. His first book “Healthsoth:The Wagon to Disaster” was published in 2009. His second book was published in January 2015 and is titled “Ethics Playbook:Winning Ethically in Business”

Biography
Dr. Ruth H. Carmichael is a Senior Marine Scientist at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab and an Associate Professor of Marine Sciences at the University of South Alabama. She came to Alabama from Maine, where she was Assistant Professor of Marine Science at the University of Maine-Machias. Carmichael holds an MA (1998) and PhD (2004) from Boston University at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA. She is Director of DISL’s Manatee Sighting Network and operates the Alabama Marine Mammal Stranding Network. She is an Editor for two scientific journals, Past President of the Gulf Estuarine Research Society, Co-chair of the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program’s Science Advisory Committee, and Member-At-Large for the Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation.
DISL’s Manatee Sighting Network
Founded in 2007, the Dauphin Island Sea Lab’s Manatee Sighting Network is the only formal manatee sighting network in the U.S. The Network receives and maps sightings from all along the Gulf of Mexico coast. The program is committed to sharing data with other researchers, managers, and the public. The Network provides valuable information regarding where manatees live and what they do while in Alabama and Mississippi waters. The Network is housed at DISL on Dauphin Island, AL.
DISL’s Alabama Marine Mammal Stranding Network
Founded in 2011, the Alabama Marine Mammal Stranding Network is a cooperative regional stranding network partner, which works with NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service to respond to dolphin and whale strandings and with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to respond to manatee strandings in Alabama, Mississippi, and the Florida panhandle.
For more information, to make a donation, or to report a sighting or stranding visit us at:
DISL’s Manatee Sighting Network
Phone: 1-866-493-5803
Web: http://manatee.disl.org
Email: manatee@disl.org
Facebook: Mobile Manatees Sighting Network
DISL’s Alabama Marine Mammal Stranding Network
Phone: 1-877-WHALE-HELP
Web: http://almmsn.disl.org
Email: ALMMSN@disl.org

Elizabeth P. Stevens
President and Chief Executive Officer
Downtown Mobile Alliance
Elizabeth P. Stevens has served as the President and CEO of the Downtown Mobile Alliance since its formation in 2005. The Downtown Mobile Alliance is a consortium of three not-for-profits working to support the development of Downtown Mobile. The Business Improvement District, or “BID,” is a property owner-funded special assessment district that provides enhanced services to the property owners within the district’s 75 block area. The BID provides intensive cleaning, hospitality, and beautification services along the property owners’ sidewalks and economic development and promotion activities for the district’s property owners. The Alliance also operates a business membership organization charged with promoting downtown business expansion through marketing and policy work, and the philanthropic Main Street Mobile to raise grants and donations for special projects including a newly launched land bank and revolving fund for affordable housing.
Ms. Stevens has worked in downtown development since 1985 in her native South Carolina as well as Alabama. She started the Main Street Program in Conway, SC and then in 1990 at the City of Mobile.
She currently serves as one of Governor Bentley’s appointees to the Alabama Historic Commission. Ms. Stevens was recently appointed as a Trustee to the Alabama Department of Archives and History. She serves on the board of directors of the Barton Academy Foundation, Springboard to Success, Mobile Bay Convention & Visitors Bureau, Mobile Rotary, and Innovation PortAL. Ms. Stevens is a graduate of the 2014-15 class of Leadership Alabama.
Ms. Stevens is a native of Charleston, SC, a graduate of the College of Charleston.

Aaron Beam
Bio
Aaron Beam was a founder and the first Chief Financial Officer of Healthsouth from 1984 until 1997. Today he lives in Loxley, Alabama with his wife of 45 years, Phyllis. In 1996 he took part in the accounting fraud at Healthsouth. In 2003 he pled guilty to the fraud and spent time in a federal prison for his crime.
He began his public speaking career in 2009 and as of January 2017 has spoken to over 325 different groups. These include universities, associations, companies and civic groups. His primary message is about corporate fraud: Who is actually responsible for these frauds, how they take place, and what can be done to prevent frauds such as Enron and Healthsouth.
Mr. Beam is also an author. His first book “Healthsoth:The Wagon to Disaster” was published in 2009. His second book was published in January 2015 and is titled “Ethics Playbook:Winning Ethically in Business”

Dr. Terry Ellis served as pastor of six churches in his 34-year career. He holds a doctorate in Greek, a Masters in biblical studies, and a B.A. in Psychology. He has authored numerous commentaries and articles on biblical and spiritual topics. GraceWaves, the title of his recent book and his weekly blog, is widely read and distributed.
And he nearly lost his life to alcoholism.
For more than three decades Dr. Ellis has stepped into the chaos of people’s lives to bring direction and peace. Through addiction he entered his own chaos. His recovery began when someone said “we need to get you well.” After treatment for alcoholism he returned to the pastorate but soon felt led to devote his life to helping alcoholics/addicts and their families find hope and peace. Today he is a professional, certified interventionist, speaks in churches and civic organizations on the topics of addiction and recovery, and works with treatment facilities on the spiritual component of recovery. His goal is to help people and their families escape the shadows of addiction, and help a wider audience understand addiction and the hope of recovery.
http://videomicloud.com/?c=140&k=dbfd633796

Cartledge Weeden Blackwell, III
Cartledge Weeden Blackwell, III was born in Selma. Blackwell serves as the Assistant Director of the Mobile Historic Development Commission. His scholarly focus is on the architecture and decorative arts of the American South. Blackwell obtained undergraduate degrees in art history and historic preservation from the College of Charleston He received his MA in Architectural History from the University’s School of Architecture in 2008. Cart is currently working on two monographs. One focuses on Alabama artist-designer Clara Weaver Parrish. A second on architect George B. Rogers is the beginning stages of development. In addition to his work with the Mobile Historic Development Commission and research endeavors, Cart also serves as the Alabama representative to the Southeast Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians, a board member of the Cahaba Foundation, a board member of the Friends of the Magnolia Cemetery, and a board member of the Friends of the Alabama Department of Archives & History.